Electricity load shedding in Bangladesh worsened on 13 May 2023 due to a drop in gas supplies to power plants. Two of the country’s operational floating, storage, and re-gasification units were suspended on 12 May night due to fears of Cyclone Mocha. As a result, natural gas supplies to industries, commercial entities, households, and compressed natural gas (CNG) filling stations were severely affected, causing disruptions to businesses and commercial operations.
The power generation also decreased from around 13,000MW on 12 May to 10,000MW on 13 May. Moreover, the country’s overall natural gas supply dropped to around 2,150 million cubic feet per day from around 2,900 mmcfd due to the suspension of LNG re-gasification. Some power plants had to remain idle due to a dearth of US dollars to import sufficient coal, while some furnace oil-fired power plants had to limit their operations due to fuel scarcity and non-payment of dues by the government.